Sharon’s never had a roommate before. In fact, there’s a lot Sharon’s never done before, but Robyn’s about to change all that. Jen Silverman’s The Roommate shatters expectations with its witty and profound portrait of a blossoming intimacy between two women from vastly different backgrounds, as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality, and the promise of reinvention. Being bad never felt so good as it does in this riveting one-act about second acts.
Jack O’Brien (Hairspray, Shucked) directs with a sure hand, and David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit) provides the woodwind-heavy incidental music. There’s no show without the stars — their staccato interplay is expert — and while Silverman’s play often feels like it might evaporate through those beams, it’s nice to spend time with these two old friends. If you can label them that!
Most of what either woman says in “The Roommate,” which opened Thursday at the Booth Theater, is greeted by one or the other response. The two actors, old friends and old hands, play beautifully off each other, expertly riding the seesaw of a play, by Jen Silverman, that throws a Bronx grifter looking to reform herself into an unlikely alliance with a flyover frump looking to ditch her flannel ways. The actors’ intense focus and extreme contrast multiply the material exponentially, sending it way past the footlights to the back of the Booth. But as we’ve learned, sustaining and expanding are two different activities. Indeed, the Broadway supersizing of “The Roommate,” which has been produced regionally since 2015, does not necessarily represent progress, even as it no doubt reaps profit.
2017 | Williamstown, MA (Regional) |
Original Production at Williamstown Theatre Festival Williamstown, MA (Regional) |
2024 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
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